Like Kissing Fire
by magicallyAWOL
Summary: Shiomi Kiramitsu never suspected that at the tender age of fifteen, she'd find out all her friends at Cafe Mew Mew were secretly super magical animal heroines. She also didn't foresee that a certain green haired alien from their past would return, on the hunt for human souls, only to find her to be his most valuable prey yet. It's now a fight for both her her life, and her sanity.
1. The Unveiling of Not so Secret Secrets

**So this story is actually quite old. The original was published on quizilla around 2010. When I wrote it, it was divided into 'seasons'. The story itself was never completed, having finished season one and discontinuing season two. The quizilla version is currently up for adoption if there are any takers out there who wouldn't mind finishing it, with or without the help of my former ideas. Until then, I decided to do a reboot of the whole thing. Because...well...why not? Even though my love for Tokyo Mew Mew has significantly dimmed now that I've grown out of my awkward phase, I remember how attached I was to this here story, and figured it wasn't fair to let it be forgotten and swallowed up in the depths of the internet as a mere dusty ol memory.**

**I must warn you though, I don't really find this story tasteful. It's a hunk of coal that I plan on reforming into a shiny diamond. Seriously though, I'll do my best to repair the damages without changing the overall plot or characters, even though the point of view has changed. But some parts are still extremely silly, and the OC I'm using is my biggest Sue to date.**

**Ye have been warned. So, without further adieu, enjoy.**

**I'll be doing daily updates with this one.**

**Chapter one: The Chapter Where Absolutely Nothing Happens**

* * *

Shiomi smiled down at her reflection in the sun-sparkling ripples of a rather clean, indigo rain puddle. Her mirrored image may have been distorted and difficult to see clearly, but what she could make out looked presentable.

Pink hair intact, green eyes still where she left them, outfit free of any evident creases or disproportionate wrinkles. Yep, she was looking just fine.

She was currently heading off to Ichigo's sixteenth birthday party, and she needed to hurry because she was already running late.

Her and Ichigo had been best friends for a total of two years. The duo had met when Shiomi visited the cafe on the first day of summer, where the bubbly redhead had waited for her, and the two realized through regular conversation that they had a lot in common. They shared the same interests in music, movies, and even men. Not to mention, Shiomi remembered becoming immediately smitten by her outgoing personality.

The other workers, Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro had also befriended her over the course of time. But Mint, the snobbish rich girl of the cafe, had not exactly warmed up to her yet. Thought that wasn't to say she ever _would._

Shiomi was incredibly turned off by the ballerina's persona. She found her to be extremely bratty, catty, and while the others were constantly working hard and diligently, she sat around on her butt, sipping tea through her perfectly glossed lips.

Shiomi rose to a standing position and laced her arms apart to stretch, then began walking towards the cafe, where the party was being held. She didn't need to bring the birthday girl a present, because the two had already settled the matter after Shiomi had taken her best friend shopping and bought her a cute little outfit that practically had Ichigo written all over it. No...no really, it was decorated in strawberries. Smiling strawberries, at that.

When she reached the cafe, she noticed that the exterior was decorated with balloons and multicolored streamers. She smiled to myself and calmly went ahead and pushed her way through the front door.

Once the carnation haired teenager had made it inside, she saw that everyone was scattered apart and chatting amongst themselves. There weren't a lot of people present. It was just the cafe's employees, including their bosses, Ryou and Keiichiro, and Ichigo's Earth-enthusiast boyfriend, Masaya.

As Shiomi looked around absent-mindedly, the door slammed behind her, and everyone turned their heads in her direction with straight attention. Shiomi expected the usual warm smiles of greeting. But instead, what she got was their relaxed expressions suddenly shifting to anxiety, and then all of them glancing towards one another with what seemed like worry.

Ichigo was the only one who seemed happy to see her friend's arrival. She grinned and walked over, wrapping her arms around her in a vertebrae-crushing hug. She was even wearing the outfit the two had picked out together.

"Shiomi! Thank goodness! I almost thought you weren't gonna show up!" she said excitedly while pulling away. Shiomi smiled awkwardly and addressed everyone else around her with a nod, trying hard to ignore their repressing stares.

"Happy Birthday Ichigo!...And sorry about that, I guess you could say I was being fashionably late!" she laughed. "Even though I was only twenty minutes late...what, was it important to be here on time or something?"

She then met Mint's glare from across the room and watched the spoiled ballerina cross her arms with distaste. "You could say it was _crucial,_" she said plainly as the two frowned at each other for a brief second.

Everyone else still looked incredibly nervous, and right away Shiomi picked up that they must have something to tell her. It was written all over their tightened features.

Ichigo drew back, then looked to the others and nodded approvingly. She then turned back at smiled at her friend with kind eyes.

"Shiomi..you're one of my best friends, and I don't really like the idea of keeping secrets from those I love. So I talked with the others and we think we should tell you my-or...I mean our secret. I had to get permission from Shirogane and Akasaka first though. They said it's okay, and that's either because they equally respect you, or because I'm the birthday girl and they didn't want to see me throw a tantrum," she said teasingly, as if to lighten the atmosphere.

Shiomi blinked in confusion and watched as Ichigo took a step back. Mint rose from her chair, (too bad there weren't cameras there to capture such a jaw-dropping moment in history) Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro all moved away from their respective corners, and then the five of them lined up together.

They reached into their pockets and each pried out a small, metallic, ovular shaped pendant.

They planted pecks on the cool metal front of the lustrous objects, and suddenly lights and colors burst from their bodies and fled into their surroundings, their clothes disappearing as they became nothing more than white silhouettes.

Shiomi gasped out loud and stumbled backwards, restraining a scream that hovered somewhere inside her chest. She watched what looked like glowing strands of DNA circle around the figures of the Cafe Employees.

They all shouted 'Mew Mew!' followed by their own names (except Ichigo said Mew Mew Strawberry, which is what Ichigo means regardless) and twirled around with graceful, elegant poise in what seemed like a short dance as power seeped into and around them, as well as on their very skin. The glowing bands of light were now forming outfits that clothed their seemingly nude bodies.

When the intense lights disintegrated and the regular daylight from outside sank back into the background, they touched their toes to the ground and looked up with coy smiles. Shiomi stared in wonder with wide, glassy eyes.

They were all now sporting not only stylish clothes, but different parts that apparently had derived from.._.animals._

Ichigo's, whose outfit was a bright bubble gum pink, matching with her hair, was adorned with a pair of flicking black cat ears, curled, gloved fists that resembled that of feline paws, and a long black tail complete with a bow and golden bell. Mint's cerulean outfit matched along with her darker colored wings and a triangular, feathered tail, with her hair having dipped into a shade of rich blue. Lettuce's lime green attire appeared to be a fish of some sort, depicting from her slick, twining antennas, and now her shiny locks were colored less like the aforementioned vegetable, and more like cascades of neon green. Pudding's outfit was yellow like a ripe banana, possibly to compliment her furry monkey parts. And Zakuro's magenta clothing went along with pointed wolf ears, and a fierce, swishing tail, her hair now colored like silken lavender.

Shiomi's mouth quivered as she gaped at her friends in awe and the slightest bit of fear. "W-W-What just happened?!" she shouted in shock, her eyes darting back and forth between each and every last one of them. Behind them, the three boys of the group just smiled gently, as if this was all basic routine.

Ichigo took a step forth, her cropped hair bouncing slightly as she did.

"We're the Tokyo Mew Mew group, Shiomi..." she said softly.

Shiomi's eyes widened. She wasn't unfamiliar with Tokyo Mew Mew, but then again, who was? They were a famous group of super-heroine girls that protected the city from monsters a few years ago, but Shiomi had never bothered to find out what they looked like, and typically ignored anything she saw pertaining to them out of ignorance and/or disinterest of the past.

But now, they had her attention by the throat.

"You... you can't be serious! Is this some kind of joke?" she asked. Though, this couldn't be a joke, because they had transformed right in front of her. Future technology was not that advanced, and they couldn't have achieved that with even the latest special effect, no matter how long Keiichiro spent cooped up in his little computer study.

Masaya began walking toward the frightened girl as well.

"It's not a joke. And it doesn't end there. I also have something to do with this little _secret_ of their's."

He interlocked his fingers and panned his eyes to the side, lost in distant memories.

"I used to share a profile with this character called the Blue Knight, see. He...or I...I was Mew Ichigo's defender for whenever there was trouble or danger she was unable to single-handedly evade. But, I lost all my powers during the final battle."

She felt her heart beat faster.

_You can't be serious. Is this really happening? Is it REALLY happening?!_

Masaya then sighed and continued, "But...at some point my transformation became monstrous...and I went from being a savior, to being _evil._ I tried to destroy the mews and everything they stood for. This dark side of me was named Deep Blue, and he was also the leader of the-"

His voice cut off as he suddenly looked towards Ichigo nervously, as if he didn't have the guts to go on alone.

The pink mew swallowed and looked back at Shiomi.

"This might sound crazy, but you have to at least try to believe what I'm about to say" she said calmly.

Her friend only nodded, eager to hear more about this amazing nonsense. She no longer cared about anything sounding crazy. She already witnessed crazy, and expected to be practically numbed by anything else.

Ichigo took a deep breath and said, "Masaya, my boyfriend, had turned into the leader of the-"

_"ALIENS!"_ Pudding shouted, hopping in front of them both.

For a brief second, Shiomi could see a marking on her forehead from when her blonde bangs flew up, but then her mind snapped back to reality.

"Aliens...?" she asked, looking at her in curiosity.

The yellow mew jumped up and down like a kid high on a sugar rush, seeming to want to be the one to deliver this part of the news.

"Yes! _Aliens!_ Three of them came from their own planet and attacked Tokyo! They're the guys who controlled the monsters, the _chimera animals,_ to be specific!"

She took a steady sigh to catch her breath. Everyone saw that Shiomi was now completely intrigued.

"Woah...you mean...actual aliens?" she asked, reaching down, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her with rising anxiety. Pudding laughed and nodded her head quickly.

Shiomi's eyes cast over to Ichigo. "That's amazing! You got to meet actual aliens! I didn't even think they existed! What, were they green and scaly? Were they super short with big black eyes?!"

Everyone shared a mutual glance of amusement before bursting into laughter. Shiomi's excited smile faltered as she looked around, waiting for someone to fill her in on the information she failed to pick up.

Zakuro cocked her head to the side, looking down at the younger, shorter girl with her piercing blue eyes.

"They actually resembled us, believe it or not. They possessed a lot of human qualities. The only differences were they had big shell-like ears, relative to elves. They were also much paler, had luminescent eyes that don't typically occur in our nature, and they were a lot.._.colder,_" she said staring upward as if instinctively remembering something.

Lettuce giggled behind her. "Oh yeah...you did clock the one that liked Ichigo right in the jaw...hard enough to send him flying. Even if they already _could_ fly, it was still pretty impressive."

Zakuro smirked with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Shiomi's mind had officially snapped in half, unable to handle the disbelief and shock, as she gaped back at Ichigo, who only laughed awkwardly to herself in return.

"One of the aliens...liked you?!" she shrieked, almost sounding like a borderline psycho with how high her voice level was climbing. "As in...like liked you?"

She looked down quietly, right as Masaya slipped his hands around her slim waist from behind, while peering back up at Shiomi.

"We'd say it was more of an obsession really. This particular alien kept trying to take her back to his planet and claim her as his...and so on and so forth."

Ichigo looked up with another grin and nuzzled into the crook of Masaya's neck. "But I didn't, because I wanted to be with you.." she purred at him.

After a long silence, another blinding light formed and all the girls returned back to their normal selves, with the outfit Shiomi had bought Ichigo wrapping itself back around her body.

It took Shiomi a second to absorb what happened. Because now that everything looked normal again, it almost felt like she'd imagined it all.

But Ryou quickly proved it wasn't all in her head, as he stuck his hand up and stated a quick reminder.

"One more thing. Shiomi, you can't tell anyone what you've just heard. And I mean _anyone._ It's a secret these girls and I all wish to keep. And failing to do so could be highly dangerous."

Shiomi nodded understandingly.

"No problem, you have my word. And besides, I would never break your trust."

The blonde allowed his hand to drop as he smiled warmly and scanned the room.

"Right, then. Enough of the heavy. I say we start the festivities."

At the sound of that, everyone squealed as pop music came pouring in from the speakers nailed to the walls, all of them giggling and rushing around to the snacks and party favors.

And thus, the fun had officially begun.


	2. First Encounter With Aliens

Once night had fallen upon Tokyo, everyone started to bid their goodbyes and shuffle out the doors of the cafe, and then off to either catch a taxi or have their parents pick them up. Shiomi, on the other hand, usually used walking as means of transportation. She wasn't really in any rush to leave, and instead stuck around. In fact, she ended up being the last one out. She had stayed to converse with Ichigo, who shared the story about the alien with her. The one who'd crushed on her, to be specific.

"His name was Kish.." she said slowly. "Kind of like quiche, except...well not. There were three of them, you see. There was him, and his...what I assume were his brothers. Their names were Pai and Tart. Fighting them was extremely frustrating. They were mischievous, not to mention geniuses to a certain degree, and we almost lost our war with them too many times to count."

She smiled to herself. "But in the end they ended up helping us more than we ever thought they could. They weren't as evil as we thought they were, based on their past demonstrations. All they wanted was to save their planet by collecting mew aqua..."

She then went on to explain what mew aqua was, and after a few more explanations, Shiomi figured her father would want her home by then. The two best friends shared an embrace, and then Shiomi left the cafe and started on her way home.

As she walked alone in the dark, Shiomi looked around, suddenly frightened by how eerie her blinded surroundings were. She had taken a route through the local park on her way here, and was now taking the same route back. That was slowly turning out to be a horrid mistake. She instantly regretted not leaving earlier. It was nearly impossible to see, save for some shadowed moonlight. All the street lamps in the park had been turned off.

The young girl hugged herself in an attempt for comfort, trying her absolute hardest not to be afraid of who and what might be lurking about at this hour.

_I'm going to be okay. My home's not that far any way...I know I can make it._

No sooner did the young girl think this, did she hear someone's voice call out in front of her.

"Hey guys! Look who came to join us!"

The voice belonged to a man, presumably a creepy one at that. His tone slurred with amusement and the slightest hint of perverse desire.

Shiomi stopped dead in her tracks, squinting towards the path ahead. She was able to make out the shadowed silhouettes of four different men, all of which had their heads now turned in her direction.

She squeaked out loud, her heart hammering in her chest.

_You've got to be kidding me!_

There was only one way to get home from this point, and there was no use in turning around and running back to the cafe. It was more than likely closed by now, and nobody would be there to let her in. The only thing left to do was chance going past the men, hoping to God they wouldn't actually try anything.

Shiomi took a deep breath and made a wide, rounded angle around them, shuffling by quickly with her head down. But her safety was short-lived. Next thing she knew, she was being yanked back by her collar.

She didn't even try to hold it in. A bloodcurdling scream erupted from her throat, right as the predators all crowded around her, laughing in synchronized maniacal chortles.

One of them spoke near her, "Ah, where you think you're going?"

Another chimed in, "Yeah, you're definitely comin' with us, babe!"

Shiomi suddenly felt all her terror be manipulated by, if not completely replaced by rage. They were all getting a real kick out of her defenselessness, and it disgusted her. There was no way she was going down without putting up a fight.

_Just remember what Mom used to say. When a man tries to hurt you, and all else fails, go for the ultimate weak spot._

Wise words indeed. Shiomi mustered up her courage, and with an angered cry, she quickly kicked one of them between his legs.

The plan had half worked. The one she kicked let out a gasp of pain and collapsed to the ground, rendered immobile.

Only problem was, he wasn't the one clutching her collar.

Shiomi reached a new-found adrenaline within her, and used it to her advantage, elbowing the one behind her so that he was knocked back, and his grip loosened just enough for her to escape. She pulled free, jumped over the one on the ground and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

When she looked back, through the hair flying around in her vision, Shiomi could see them giving chase behind her. The one she kicked remained in the dirt, shouting curses she didn't even know existed.

When she turned back around to face the oncoming path, she ran right smack into another person.

As soon as they collided, the stranger's arms flew around the shaking girl, as if to catch her. But then, after a few moments dragged by, she realized that he wasn't letting go. It was as if he was trying to keep her from breaking free.

It took her a moment, but Shiomi quickly registered what was happening. This guy might be with the ones she was running from. That's why he was refusing to release her.

She struggled and pulled back and shrieked as much as she could, but the frail body trapping her had a grip that was far superior to hers.

"Let go of me!"she screamed, beating her fists against his chest.

The footsteps from behind her grew louder and louder until they had officially caught up. By then, they all skidded to an immediate stop.

"Nice one, pal. Thanks for nabbing her for us," one of them said.

Shiomi's eyes widened and gasp fell from her mouth.

_Oh, so he isn't with them after all. But...what now? He's going to just hand me over to them?! That's just as bad if not worse!_

Tears formed in the teenager's eyes. She became overwhelmed with hopelessness. There was no telling what was about to happen to her. She could very well be dead by the end of the night.

_And just when I had learned my friends' secret too..._

But then, the person holding onto her tightened his grasp and pressed her to his body, much to her discomfort.

"I don't know who you humans think you are, but I would never be your pal," he said menacingly.

He then spun around and his arms fell away from Shiomi's body, allowing her to move. She immediately jumped back in horror, and with the slightest bit of relief.

"You need not worry..." he said in a rather comforting tone, noting how afraid she was. His face remained hidden in the black prints of the night. "I won't let them take you."

The male's voice sounded young, and in a way, soothing almost.

Shiomi couldn't make out what he did next, but she heard a gasp scatter amongst her attackers, and their shadows all stepped away.

"Woah man...just calm down. It doesn't need to come to_ this_," one of them said nervously.

The boy only chuckled darkly, in complete contrast to his reassuring pitch from mere seconds ago. And without warning, he lunged at them.

A fight, however, did not ensue. Because instead of brawling, the men shouted in terror and took off running. Even the 'injured' one from earlier glanced over from his spot, and after seeing the stranger's stance, jumped up and joined them in the retreat.

Shiomi blinked, her hands coiled to her chest.

_What did he just do...?_

She heard footsteps come from behind her and tensed up again, only to hear that one of the footsteps belonged to a a little kid. Or...at least he sounded like one.

"What are you doing, you_ idiot?"_ he said in an annoyed voice. Either he was ignoring Shiomi's presence or he was unable to see her in the dark, because he didn't address her whatsoever.

"Didn't Pai already give us the Earth protocol? We're not supposed to be out in the open! Even at night! It's dangerous!"

The one next to him spoke in a deep voice, so Shiomi assumed he was possibly a grown man.

"You're lucky we've come out this far to find you. Now come on. No worthy humans attend the park at these hours."

He then stopped and looked around a little. "Although, I did hear some laughing...as well as shouting, not too far from here as well. So we best get out of here now before someone sees us."

Shiomi's thoughts were finalized. Judging by his words, there was no way they could see her.

But some of the things he said stuck to her. Earth protocol? No worthy humans? Who refers to other people as 'humans' like that?

The only smart thing to do now would be to slip away before they even noticed she was there. She began backing away slowly, only to run herself into a metal pole, or better yet, a street lamp.

Her back made a significantly loud noise upon impact, and for some curious reason, the force managed to knock the light on, so that a yellow glow flooded into view and illuminated her surroundings, right as she stumbled over the base of the structure and fell into the grass with a small oomf.

Shiomi flung her head around in panic to see how the strangers would respond to having discovered her.

And what she saw, shocked her beyond belief.

Before her stood a grown man who had short, purple hair, large conch-like ears, and discolored skin. The child next to him shared many of his features, particularly the ears and flesh, except his hair was pigmented like maple, and tied up in two arching bondages.

Shiomi didn't move an inch, her pulse ramming against her eardrums. She slowly turned her head to look at her supposed savior.

He too had pale skin of sickly tint, as well as a pair of glowing amber eyes. His hair was forest green and tied in bondages also, except these two were drooping along the sides of his head.

He was holding two slender daggers, one in each hand.

Shiomi's eyes widened as she crawled backwards in ever-growing fear. The green-haired boy stared after her intently, his eyes not daring to leave hers.

She realized that they fit the description of the aliens Ichigo and Zakuro described a little too well.

_Aliens..._

Without another lingering thought, Shiomi jumped up and took off running, this time not bothering to look back, as she fled off into an unknown direction.

The one that had rescued her gasped in protest.

"W-Wait!" he shouted after her retreating figure, reaching out towards her.

But she simply ignored his pleas and went on running, and running, and running some more.

She kept going until she was sure they were far out of sight, at least if they hadn't bothered to follow her. The poor girl had no idea where she had even ended up. Some heavily wooded part of the park, far off the dirt track.

After trudging along for a few more minutes, her heavy breathing resorted to soft panting as she slowed and eventually came to a stop, grabbing a nearby tree branch to steady herself and inhale deeply over and over.

Suddenly, the air in front of her rippled like a pinprick in water, and the green haired alien appeared in front of her, straight out of the thin air, a crazy glint slicing through his eyes.

Shiomi screamed and stumbled, nearly falling backwards again. But before she could hit the ground, the alien's cold arm snaked around her waist and caught her. She stared back into his eyes, shaking violently.

_What the heck, what is this sorcery?! How did he even...no...it's not possible!_

The air rippled again on either side of him, and the other two aliens appeared as well. They were both eyeing Shiomi carefully. The eldest one sighed.

"Kish. Let her up."

The boy holding her arched her back up, but quickly grabbed hold of her elbow so she couldn't go running off again.

Shiomi gasped. _Kish...? Isn't he...the one that liked Ichigo?_

Their eyes were almost luminescent, even in the dark, and it scared Shiomi a lot. Aside from the other-wordly effect, in terms of expression, Kish's held one that screamed lunacy and sadism. And yet he was the one that had saved her. For a second he grinned, revealing a fang that managed to catch a splice of moonlight.

The elder alien leaned closer as if to examine the overwhelmed human female. His voice was calm, but eyes still menacing.

"And what is _your_ name?" he asked.

Shiomi instantly knew she would be dumb to tell them. There was no way she was giving these people her identity. Not only were they the sole enemies of Tokyo not too long ago, but even after gaining the Mews' respect, there was something about them that just...didn't seem trustworthy.

Her eyelids fell shut and tightened with fury. When she reopened them, she tried to speak as intimidatingly as possible.

"I'm not telling you, alright? Now let me go and leave me alone!"

She really was getting pissed off, and even though she was going all out on trying to show that she had bite, she knew that by not containing her anger, it might actually turn out worst than before. Judging by Ichigo's explanations of their wits and power, they probably could kill her if they wanted to.

And that was proven all too soon. Kish smirked evilly then formed a fist with his free hand and punched Shiomi in the stomach.

It hit her all at once...literally. She choked out and slumped to the ground, still not breaking away from her then-rescuer and now-assaulter's grip. It felt like the wind had been completely knocked out of her.

_And this is the same person that helped me out not too long ago? Unbelievable!_

"Go on. Tell us," The other alien said stiffly, paying no attention to Kish's spontaneous violence.

Shiomi shook her head stubbornly, peering back up at them with a frown.

"No way! I know who you are!" she shouted.

"You're not even from this planet! You're _aliens!"_

Hearing herself say it felt strange, and it clouded her mind with thoughts. This was all beginning to feel surreal.

They all looked rather surprised by her defiance. The youngest alien nudged Kish with his elbow.

"How does she know that? She would have to have connections with that Ichigo girl you were so fond of," he said to him.

Shiomi's heart leaped.

"Stop it! That's enough! Let me go right now!"

_Wham!_

This time, she'd been knocked in the head. Except it was by the older alien, the one with violet hair.

It was enough to make her lose consciousness. Her eyes glued shut, and she toppled down onto her side.

Kish laughed darkly above her, leaning down and pressing his face into her long hair. He breathed into her ear, his own hair tickling the side of her face.

"I'll find out who you are, one way or another..." he whispered, his words hot as they swam down her hearing canal.

And then she then blacked out.


End file.
